Schools: Finance
(asked on 1st November 2016) - View Source
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many instances of financial malpractice and irregularity in (a) free schools and academies and (b) community schools have occurred in each of the last three years; and what proportion of each type of school they have occurred in.
(a) The reported incidents of financial malpractice and irregularity (includes fraud, theft and irregularity) in free schools and academies in the last three financial years are set out in the table below. The proportion of each type of academy or free school they have occurred in is recorded in the corresponding brackets.
Financial Year | Cases investigated by the EFA | Self-Reported by Institutions | TOTAL | |||
Academies | Free Schools | Academies | Free Schools | Academies | Free Schools | |
2013/14 | 10 (0.3%) | 3 (1.7%) | 28 (0.8%) | 1 (0.6%) | 38 (1.0%) | 4 (2.3%) |
2014/15 | 10 (0.2%) | 1 (0.4%) | 21 (0.5%) | 0 (0%) | 31 (0.7%) | 1 (0.4%) |
2015/16 | 7 (0.1%) | 0 (0%) | 43 (0.8%) | 0 (0%) | 50 (1.0%) | 0 (0%) |
Totals of % may not add up due to rounding
January Census data each year:
Year | Academies | Free Schools | TOTAL |
2014 | 3,653 | 174 | 3,827 |
2015 | 4,467 | 255 | 4,722 |
2016 | 5,171 | 303 | 5,474 |
Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-school-and-pupil-numbers
Local authorities are responsible for the financial management of maintained schools, and they will usually be the point of contact for any allegations of financial impropriety. The Department for Education is careful not to overburden local authorities with monitoring requirements. Local authorities are required to provide an annual assurance that school funding has been used properly. However, the Department does not centrally monitor the number of allegations reported to each local authority